ABSTRACT
Raman Kapur’s chapter underlines the unswerving importance of leadership in organizations. It is an intense and searching exploration of the burden of responsibility he carries in a leadership position, the terrors and traps of the role but also the potential to influence a stressed, dysfunctional system for the good. Organizational leadership carries more crucial responsibility and accountability, but the anxiety produced in the conduct of an analytic group is often underestimated and constrained by the strand of group analysis that emphasizes passive leadership. Anti-group developments are often a reflection or consequence of inadequate or unconfident leadership, and in turn an inadequate leadership model tends to exacerbate the difficulty. Raman quotes Christine Thornton who writes about the strand as an avoidance or denial of the real significance of power and authority given the democratic stance imbued in group analysis. In Raman’s chapter, part of his struggle and his achievement is the ability to communicate effectively with his team.
